Bladdud

Bladdud
Gender	Male
Born	Dark Ages
Death	Dark Ages
Species	Garou
Tribe	Fianna
Auspice	Ragabash
Breed	Homid
Rank	Elder

Bladdud is a Homid Fianna Ragabash who lived during the Dark Ages.

Background

The Fianna of Wales name their chieftain the "Cernunos" - the Horned One. The mightiest Welsh kings of the ancient British Garou take the Antler Crown - the skull and antlers of the long extinct Great Deer - as their symbol of office.

The current chieftain of the Welsh Garou is Bladdud, a Fianna Ragabash of middle years, the grandson of the greatest traitor of the Welsh Fianna. A vampire named Stephanie, a Gangrel who claimed to have come from ancient Macedonia, infatuated Bladdud's grandfather. For love, Bladdud's grandfather gave up everything - his life, his tribe and his soul. The vengeance of the Garou against him was legendary. He still lives in some forsaken corner of the Umbra; his suffering will not end in this age of the world.

After undergoing the First Change and learning of his grandfather's sins, young Bladdud sought to prove himself and transcend his family's legacy. He left Wales and traveled the Isles, never revealing his name or lineage. He fought alongside the Fianna in many battles, slaying a Thunderwyrm in the bogs of Ireland and ending the unlife of an ancient vampire in the Scottish Lowlands. On his 18th birthday, he returned to Wales in disguise and presented himself to the Fianna as a young orphan cliath, without rank or renown. The spirits knew the truth, but they remained silent. In Wales, Bladdud helped scour the vampires from the hills, slaying them where he found them and murdering their spies. He went north with his newly founded pack to make war on the Black Spiral Dancers. He reclaimed an ancient Fianna caern in Northumbria from the Fenrir by trickery and bravery, outwitting the caern's crafty totem and then facing a Fenrir champion in single combat.

In his 21st summer, he challenged the highest chieftain of the Welsh Fianna to single combat and took the Antler Crown from his fallen rival. He made his defeated foe his closest advisor, and then worked to bring unity to the fragmented and fractious Fianna packs of the British Isles. In this, he has been somewhat successful. His ambitions are greater still: If the Fianna, the Fenrir and even the Silver Fangs of the British Isles were united as one, they would have the power to defeat the Wyrm utterly in all its forms.

Some years after taking the crown, Bladdud revealed his heritage, and the tribe declared him free of his grandfather's taint. Those who dated whisper otherwise were challenged to single combat and defeated. Bladdud may be a Ragabash, but he is also an experienced warrior - and anyone expecting him to fight like a mindless Ahroun is in for a surprise. Bladdud fights like the no-moon he is - that is, he cheats.

One foe, however, Bladdud cannot defeat. The vampire Stephanie still walks the Welsh hills and Bladdud has dreamed of her. He has grown obsessed with finding her and thinks of her in every spare moment. One night soon, he will encounter her, and then he will face the greatest struggle of his life, for here is the one enemy he truly fears. He had no chance, he thinks, of actually winning the fight - the best he can hope for is to make sure they both perish. Then, perhaps, his grandfather's soul can be freed.

Image

Bladdud is still tall and strong. Age sits lightly on him, with little sign of his advancing years save a touch of gray to his hair. His years as lord of the Fianna seem to have honed his features, and now he is every inch a king of the Garou. He has a handsome face, a squared jaw and a tough, muscular body. He favors fine but practical clothes, and always carries his klaive. He smiles rarely, though some say his eyes still have the glint of mischief, especially when he is planned some devious plot against the Wyrm.